Sand-blast-abrasive reclaiming chute



July 3, 1928.

- F. J. HULL SAND BLAST ABRASIVE RBCLAIIING CHUTE Filed Sept. 22. 1927 2 Sheets-$11009. 2

Patented July 3, 1928. .7

UNITED STATES 1,675,707 PATENT. OFFICE.

ros'rran J. HULL, or HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND, As srenoa 'ror alveiaoalv someone- TION,OF naenasrown, MARYLAND, a conroaa'rron or MARYLAND.

sAND-BLAs'r-ABRASIVE aecmumme cnU'rE.

Application filed September 22, 1927. Serial No. 221,237.

The invention relates to an improvement 1n, and in connection with, apparatus for reclanmng abrasive used in cleaning castings or for other abrading operations by to be finally discharged with the refuse and discarded therewith and wasted. The object of the present invention is to overcome this difiiculty and recover andsave the abrasive which in the previous practice was discarded and lost in this way.

The improvement. consists in. a supplemen tary chute connected to the refuse discharge of the previous reclaiming apparatus and placed therein leading downward substantially to the floor of the chute. screen the refuse and used abrasive not yet I separated therefrom are passed, the chute being provided with means for checking the motion of the abrasive particles as they bounce along the screen and causing them to fall back on the screen, reducing their velocity as they pass down the incline and causing the particles of abrasiveto dropthrough the screen while the larger particles of refuse pass down the incline to a suitable receptacle. The means for checking-the course of the abrasive and thus precipitating it against the screen consists, in the preferred form of the invention shown, of a series, or a num her of sets of depending strips of flexible. downwardly substantially to the surface of the screen.

semi-soft material hanging The course of the abrasive particles is checked by these pendant stripswhich close the entire cross section of the chute above having an inclined screen .intermediately Over this a returned to the. reclaiming apparatus in any preferred manner. The waste material from the screen-passes by way of a waste outlet toa suitable receptacle.

ln the accompanying drawings I have shown sufficient ofa sand blast apparatus for recovery of abrasive to which the improvement of my invention has been applied, to

illustrate the'construction and operation of the same and the mannerof applying it.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 isan elevation. of a sand blast elevator also showing the reclaiming apparatus and thetank, to which apparatus the improved recovery chute of the invention is applied.

Figure 2 is a. view. looking at the apparatus from the left in Figure 1, the side of the elevator casing being removed to illustrate the elevator and portionsof the recovery apparatus and chute being broken away ShQWlngtheSB members in section, the latter being shown in central vertlcal section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section of the improved recovery chute on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings by numerals each of which isused toindicate the same or similar partsin thedifi'erent figures, the apparatus, as shown, comprises. an elevator 1 for removing the used. abrasive from the point of discharge at the base of the sand blast apparatus 3. The elevator delivers the used abrasive together with the refuse from the machine, charges into a separator chamberf) which, in

y way of. a chute 4 which disturn, delivers the used abrasive, together with the heavier portion. of the dbris, to

the screen 6, it being understood that the fine dirt, is, in accordancewith the preferred operation, removed frompthematerial by an gpwardly,directed air draft in the cham er 5. i l

'The screen 6 is downwardly inclined and is preferably vibrated in any suitable manner as by means of rotary vibrator 7 which may be inthe form of an air turbine or other convenient motor. The screen 6, referred to as downwardly inclined, delivers at its lower edge at 8 to a discharge chute 9 all of the material which is not either passed through the'screen or removedby the air draft, it being understood that the bulk of the used abrasive is recovered by passing through the screen 6 and is thus delivered to the top of the tank 10, however, a considerable portion of the abrasive, on account of its extreme hardness, bounces along the screen. and. isthus discharged at the bottom of the screenwvith the debris and waste mar tcrial by way of discharge ehute 9which, in turn, delivers to the supplementary reclaiming chute 12. This chute is preferably of U shaped cross section,,.as.sho. vn in Figure.

* the floor orbottomof the chute at 18 and to the cover and is, therefore, inclined downwardly as is the chute, the screen being, in fact, shown as aligned and connected with the vfloor or bottomof the discharge chute 9 and terminating a little short of the end of the supplementary chute 12. The screen discharges downwardly at its lower end by way of down spout 19 at the end of the chute into a refuse receptacle 20.

The lower end 28 of the screen is spaced away from the corresponding end of the chute to permit the Waste todrop into the down spout-'19, which discharges the refuse which will not pass through'the screen and which, therefore, traverses the full length of the screen supported thereon. The floor or bottom 18 of the supplementary chute 16 which 'is spaced below the screen, on the other'hand receives the abrasivewhich is dropped through the screen, the screen being of a mesh somewhat larger than the dimensionsof the granules of abrasive. The floor or bottom 18 of the supplementary chute is provided with a delivery passage referred to in connection with the machine as'a collector 21 leading to the elevator whereby the good abrasive recovered in the operation of the supplementary chute, as hereinafter described, is returned to the elevator 1 An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of means in the supplementary'reclaiming chute 12 for, over coming the tendency of the abrasive, on account of its extreme hardness, to bounce along the screen instead of passing through the meshes of the screen, which are of suitable dimensions to pass the abrasive when properly presented thereto, but to prevent the passage of the dbris,'consisting mainly This channel. member 1 1 of larger pieces of metal and other materials not removed by. the air draft;

This device consists in a series of depending members 24 of soft or semi-soft flexible material substantially closing th e portion of the channel or chute12 abdve the screen and extending,downward into contact or substantially into contact with the screen. These membersunay to advantage be sup ported on and secured to the cover 15 of the chute. As shown, they are inthe form of pieces ofsoft cloth or felt Qfisecured attheir upper edges to they cover extendingjtransversely. across the cover and chute and hangiiig downwardly, as aforesaid, into or, almost into contact. with the screen. These stripsof cloth arepreferably slitted atintervals at 26 in a vertical direction forming the flexible strips 24already described.)

The members 25, as shown, are arranged at short intervals along the entireportion of the chute overlying the screen so that the .used abrasive, asit enters the chute and tends to pass along the screen bouncing from point to point, comes in contact .7 with. the flexible members and is thereby precipitated into contact with the screen, itscourse being thereby interrupted so that it tends to fall and pass through the screen insteadof 'eontinuing its passage downwardly along the tion in the preferred form in order that the.

nature and operation ofthe same may be clearly understood, however, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in alimitin sense, the S00 e of theinvent-ion being delined in the claim.

\Vhat I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination-with a sand blast abrasive reclaiming apparatus comprising a screen adapted to pass the abrasive as undersize, means for feedingused abrasive to the screen, a supplementary screen receiving oversize with residual unrecovered abrasive from the first mentioned screen and adapted to separate abrasive as undersize, means for delivering the oversize of said supplemental screen to waste, and means for delivering the undersize thereof including the thereby recovered residual abrasive, to the initial feed means. Y V

Signed by me at Hagerstown, Maryland. this day of September, 1927 FOSTER J. HULL. 

